Box end labeling machine



April 26, 1932.

H J. HARDING BOX END LABELING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Spt. 13,1950 km mm INVENTOR Hcwold c7.

BY CLM Q ATTORNEY April 26, 1932. H. J. HARDING BOX END LABELING MACHINEFiled Sept. 13, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Harold cLHandizZg'Apr-H26, 1932. H. J. HARDING BOX END LABELING MACHINE Filed Sept. 15,1950 4 sheets-sheet 3 INVE NTOR April '26, 1932.

1. w w o w L my F Ii 4 (u.

H. J. HARDING Box' END LABELING mcnnm Filed Sept. 13, 1930 n jwam'olaHarold alarm-@51 Patented Apr. 26, 1932 NITED STATES HAROLD II. HARDING,0F CERES, CALIFORNIA BOX END LABELING MACHINE Application filedSeptember 13; 1930. Serial No, 481,656.

This invention relates to machines for facilitating the placing of theusual printed labels on the ends of fruit boxes. My principal object isto provide a machine for the purpose which is arranged to automaticallyfeed individual box-ends past an operator in a predetermined positionand at a definite speed, and with their upper surfaces moistened with anadhesive. This enables the operator to merely place the labels on thebox ends as they move past him without his'having to devote any time tomanipulate said box ends or to apply adhesive thereto onto the labels.The machine subsequently functions to automatically stack the box endsafter the label has been applied; Labeling operations are thereforeexpedited considerably and the labor incident to performing suchoperations is also greatly lessened over what is necessary when thehandling of the box ends and the applying of the adhesive thereto is alldone by hand as was previously the case;

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully ap; ear by aperusal of the followingspecification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of rel. erence indicate correspondingparts in the several views:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the complete machine.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side View of the machine taken from the oppositeside.

Fig. 4. is a perspective view-showing the mechanism for initiallyfeeding a pair of box ends from the supply stack.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of such mechanism.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross section taken substantially on theline 66of Fig; 3;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view showing the actuating means for the boardengaging roller.

Fig. 8 is a cross section on the line 88 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary perspective showing the clutch actuatingmechanism of the ma chine.

Fig. 10 is a cross section of the machine at the stacker end takensubstantially on the line 1010 of Fig. '2.

Referring now more, particularly to the characters of reference on thedrawings, the

numeral 1 denotes a pair of horizontaltransversely spaced rails whichform the supports for a stack of box ends 2 (hereinafter referred to asboards) andonto which the labels are to be applied; side rails 8 abovethe rails 1 guiding the side edges of said boards. 1 In the manufactureofboards of this character it is customary to surface only one face'ofthe same and in placing the boards on the rails in stacked relation theyare arranged in pairs so that their surfaced faces abut againsteachother, The boards are supported on the rails so that they standvertically with their longitudinal edges horizontally as shown in Fig.4. A presser bar 4 engages the outermost board of the stack and isconstantly held against the same so as to tend to advance the stackalong the rails, by means of a vertical lever 5. This lever is connectedto the bar 4 and is pivoted on the suPportingxframework 6 of the machineand has a tension spring 7 acting on the same in a direction such thatthe bar 4 exerts a constant pressure against the board engaged thereby.A pedal 8 is associated with the lower end of the lever so that thepresser bar'may bewithdrawn from the stack to permit another supply ofboards to be placed in position on the rails.

An endless belt9 or similar conveyor is disposed to one side of therails below the level of the same but parallel thereto; said beltextending some distance beyond the inner end of the stack and rails, orbeyond that end opposite to the presser bar. A horizontal supportingrail 10, level with the rails 1,

extends transversely of the'same andover the belt 9, from the inner endsof the rails; the width of the bar being substantially equal to thewidth of the two boards. "The rail 10 is disposed above the level of thebelt 9 a. suflicient distance to enable a board resting V on the belt topass under said rail in clearance relation thereto. Stop means 11 ofsuitable character limit the advancing movement of the stack so that thetwo endmost boards thereon normally aline wit-lithe rail 10. Said 3slidable on the rod, the length of which is 23 rail 10 is just beyond abridge 12 which is supported by the rails 1 and straddles the adj acentportion of the stack, as shown in Fig. 4.

A pair of boards are withdrawn from the inner end of the stack, movedalong the rail 10 in overhanging relation to the belt 9, and then causedto fall onto the belt with their surfaced faces uppermost by thefollowing means: overhanging the stack and the rail 10 and extendinglengthwise of the latter is a fixed bar or other member 13 whichsupports a rod 14 or the like thereunder which is parallel to said rail10. A carriage 15 is 8111110181117 and is so arranged that the carriagecan move'from apoint beyond the side of the stack opposite the rail 10to a point beyond the opposite side of the stack. The movement isimparted to the carriage to move the same through the necessarydistance, which is of course greater than the length of a board 2', bythe following means:

Horizontal links 16 are connected to said carriage and extend to a pointbeyond the side of the stack opposite the belt 9. At their outer endsthese links are connected to a verticallever 17 which is pivoted at itslower end in connection with the frame 6. Intermediate its ends thislever is connected in cranked relation with a drive-shaft 18 by aconnecting rod 19. V

The end of the carriage nearest the belt 9 carries a swivelly mountedand depending pusher finger 20. This finger is .free to swing upwardlyin one direction but is limited in its downward movement beyond avertical position in the opposite direction by a stop 21 fixed on thecarriage. A rigid tongue 22 projects laterally from the side of thecarriage in overhanging relation to the bridge 12. This tongue is alsopositioned on a level so that it may pass under a rest23 supported onthe bridge. Slidable on and engaging the rest is a bar 24 which ispivoted at one end on a vertical arm 25 which in turn is pivoted at itslower end in connection with one of the rails 1. The under edge of thisbar slopes down fora certain portion of its length toward its pivot, andjust beyond the sloping portion it is provided with a notch 26 toreceive the adjacent end of the tongue as shown in Fig. 4. This bar 24therefore forms a catch member engageablewith but detachable from thetongue. 'A link 27 which is connected to the arm 25 intermediate theends of the same extends in the direction opposite to the bar 24 to theplane of the outer end of the member 13, and is there connected to oneend of a transversely extending lever 28. This lever is disposed on alevel above the boards 2 and is pivoted intermediate its ends in a fixedposition. A rod 29 which is pivoted on the opposite end of the leverextends over the rail 10 and is connected to the adjacent ends of a pairof laterally extending toggle links 30. The opposite ends of these linksare connected to opposed board guiding units 31 which are pivoted inconnection and depend from the support 13. Flat leaf springs 32 arecarried by said units and are positioned to engage the upper edges of apair of boards 2 disposed between said units. A spring 33 applied to thelever 28 acts to hold the same so that said guide units closely engagethe boards, and said spring also acts on the arm 25, through the link27, to hold the bar 24 in a position such that the sloping portionthereof is in front of the rest The .parts of the structure thus fardescribed are arranged to operate as follows:

lVhen the carriage 15 is at the end of its stroke opposite the-bar 10and guide units 31, the finger 20 then depends belowthe level of the topedges of the two endmost boards of the stack, which as previously statedare normally alined with the rail 10. "With the advance of the carriagedue to the reciprocation of the actuating lever 17, these two boards areof course moved into position on the 'rail 10 between the guide members31. When the carriage reaches its limit of movement in the board feedingdirection, the tongue 22 drops into place in the notch 26 of the catchmember 24; said catch member and the part-s connected thereto beingup tothis time held in their normal positions by reason of the action of thespring-33. With the retracting or returning movement of the carriage,thetongue 22 being now engaged with the member 24, moves the samelengthwise. This movement is of course transmitted to the rod 29 throughthe interconnected parts. which causes the toggle links 30 to be movedso that the guide units 31 are separated toward their. lower ends, asindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 6. This separation of these guideunits causes them to disengage the boards so that the latter have noside support. In addition the springs 32 provided with said units, andwhich friotionally engage the top edges of the boards, act on said boardwith the separating movement of the units to tilt said boards away fromeach other. As aresult the boards after a comparatively slight tiltingmovement naturally fall of themselves onto the belt 9 on opposite sidesof the supporting rail 10. Since the surfaced faces of the boards arethose which were initially against each other, such faces will now beuppermost on the belt.

By the time the carriage and member 24 have moved sufficiently to causethe guide units to beseparated to the necessary extent, the slopingportion of the member 24 has engaged the rest 23 and said member 24 willthus be raised sufliciently to cause the tongue to be disengaged fromsaid member. The spring 33 is then again free to act, and the guideunits and all parts connected thereto return to their original normalpositions. The tongue after its release from the member.

24 passes under the rest and of course does not again function until asubsequentfeeding movement of the boards has taken place. In themeantime the stack has of course advanced so that another pair of boardsis abutted against the stop 11 and in position to be fed onto the rail10. The depending finger in its retracting movement therefore merelytilts upwardly and passes over saidboards without tending to move thesame, as shown in Fig.5.

As the boards drop onto the belt 9 in spaced relation as abovedescribed, they are carried along by the movement of the belt until theforemost one abuts against a stop 34 which extends across said belt at apredetermined point. This stop is in the form of a guide bar for oneside of the board and extends a considerable distance to one side of thebelt as shown inFig. 1. Bottom rails 35 for the support of the boardsafter they leave the belt 9 also extend lengthwise of the guide railfrom said side of the belt and on a level with the same. Another guidebar 36 for the opposite side edges of the boards extends parallel to thebar 34 but stops short of the same or so as not to extend across thebelt.

A plunger 37 is slidably supported by rods 38 which extend transverselyof andabove the belt centrally between the guide bars 34 and 36; saidplunger being adapted to engage the edge of the board abutted againstthe stop 34.

The plunger is connected by a horizontal link 39 with a vertical arm 40which is pivoted at its lower end in connection with the frame 6. Thisarm is oscillated so as to reciprocate the plunger through a strokesufficient to push the board off the belt and onto the rails 35, by asubstantially horizontal arm 41 which operatively engages the arm 40intermediate its ends and which is con nected to a crank 42 fixed on adriven shaft 43. (See Fig. 7). As the board leaves the belt and isreceived onto the rails 35 it passes under and is frictionally engagedby a trans verse driven roller 44, which is mounted on shorthorizontally extending V and flexible arms 45. These arms are arrangedto exert a downward pressure on the roller so that the latter willfirmly engage the board, and it is therefore best to positively raisetheroller just as the board reaches the sameto avoid having to initiallyforce the board under the roller. To do this one of the arms 45 is connected to a depending rod 46 which at its lower end engages asubstantially horizontal bar 47 which is pivoted at one end in connection with the frame 6. At its free end'this bar rides on a cam 48fixed. on a driven shaft 49. This cam is of course arranged in timedrelation with the advance of the board so as to cause the roller to belifted just as the board reaches the same. Also the shape of the pastthestack of labels L which are disposed to one side of the rails 35 and ina posit1on convenient to the operator whojisstationed on the oppositeside of the rails and boards. a I

An apparatus to apply adhesive to the upper surfaces of the boards isarranged in connection with the rails 35 before the boards reach theplane of the labels. This appa ratus comprises a receptacle 5Omounted'in overhanging relation to the advancing boards and having abottom spout 51 to deliver onto a board. The flow from this spout iscontrolled by a slide valve arranged in connection therewith to which alaterallyextending rod 52 is secured. Beyond the spout the boards areengaged by a transverse and diagonally extending brush 53whichdistributes the adhesive evenly over the entire surface of theboards with .their advancing movement and wipes excessive adhesive clearof the same. This excess adhesive is swept off one side of the boardsand drops into a pan 54 positioned below the same the adjacent side rail36 being omitted where the adhesive drains off the boards so as tonot'irrterfere with the draining. The adhesive is preferably of asemi-liquid or free flowing character and is maintained agitated byaplunger 55 which depends into the receptacle and is reciprocated bysuitable lever and linkage cgnnections 56 operated from a driven shaft 5As the boards pass by the operator therefore their upper surfaces areproperly supplied with adhesive and in a condition to receive the labelswhich are placed thereon by' the operator as the boards halt in theirmovement past his station. The labels are preferably first wetted sothat they are limp and easily applied and the stack of labels is,therefore combed as shown so as to facilitate the movement of theindividual labels from the stack.

As the labeled boards move beyond the operator they pass between theside uprights 58 of a stacker. sition between the guides they areengaged underneath by a head 59 provided on the upper end of, a rod 60.The lower end of this rod is connected to the free end of a horizontalarm 61 which is pivoted at its other end is a fixed position. A verticallink 62 is connected at its upper end to the arm intermediate its endsand at its lower end has crank connection with a driven shaft 63. Thestroke of the link is ,sufficient to raise the board engaged by the head59 from the level of the rails 36 to a level somewhat higher V hen theboards are in po-.

i'i'than that) of. notched supporting.jcat'ches 'ti l vscatch memberssupport the :entire weight of i the stack and as each'boardiswraised'from -1the rails mmust first engage the ad acent aboard above and-raisethe same sufficiently to Q:-lpermitithe (lowest .board to be engagedbymhe The rod 60 and parts associated catches. therewith=must=thereforebe stiff enough to winteranittently support the weight ofI the entire st ack. I 7 aAnelectricmotor 65 mounted on-the frame ii 6:is preferably employed'to operatethema "chine. It is of courseto .be.understood that allrthe driven shafts-previously described, as'

I "well as thebelt 9., are operatedby chainor gearJ drives21S:Sl10W11'1I1' Fig. 2. It is also to wbe understood that these drivesoperatefat asuchmclativespeeds and in such synchronized gagedclutchstructure 67. Thisrclutch-isin- 1' :terposed: between the sprocket wheelor gear 68=on said shaft, and'-wl1ich is more or'less directly connectedto the motor and the shaft 'i tself',fromwhich the other driven'shaftsare *driven. The islidable: member of this clutch is connected toa-rod169- disposed to one side of. the shaft '66 andwparallel' thereto.The

outeriend of the rod'is connected to a vertical lever v 7 0': which ispivoted intermediate its i ends on the frame 6. and at: its upper endengages the valve rod 52 of the adhesivespout. pedal .71 is operativelyconnected to the "=1=od 69' bysuitable linkage: mechanism .72

"depressing of the pedal the rod 69 is moved to disengage the'clutch;and the connection of said rod with the valve rod is-suchthat with isuch disengagement of the clutch'the spout fihwilltbe closed. "Sincetthedisengagement "of fthefclutch' causes the operation of thel-ioard--advaneing mechanism to be halted,

" vice'as will substantiallyfulfillthe objects of i :the inventionas setforth herein. 7 While ithis specification sets forth in dexste'rferingwith :each @other withtheir :va'rious *ntacle and is provided'with anormally enthe stack toward which the boards are fed,

.titaitlthe' presents andjpreferned construction which are yieldablymounted lIlZ'IZOILUGCti-OIIC. -with the uprights and ivhose'l'owernotched '5 1-.'edges 1 normally proj ect 1 inwardly .:or t :the

' plane of theside edges of the boards. .These ;of:the: device',=stillinpracticesuch deviations ifromsuch detail'may'be resorted to as donotform a' departure from the spirit 'of the invention, as defined by the.appendednlaims. 79

Having thus: described my invention what I claim as new and. useful anddesire to-secure by Letters Patent is 1. 'A-.box+end .labeling machineincluding meanslfor supporting a. row of box ends ar ranged in end toend relation, means for ad vancingr-the box-ends Ialong said means,

means associated with thesupporting means for supplying adhesive to theupper surfaces of theboX-ends as they are advanced, a label supportbeyond'the adhesive supplying means wherebylabels may be applied to thebox-ends after the adhesive has been supplied thereto; and stackingmeans associated -w1th the box-end supportlng means beyondthe'labelsupport-to form a vertical stack of the box-ends above the support afterthe labels have been applied thereto.

2. A. box-end labeling machine including means for supporting a row ofbox-ends air-" ranged-in end to end relation, means for advancingthe*boX-ends" along said means, an

adhesive receptacle associated with the sup porting'means; a valvedspout connected to the receptacle positioned to permit adhesiv todrop.onto a'boxend advancing along'the supporting :means, drive means forthe advancing'means, a normally engaged clutch in said drive meansmanual means for disengaging the clutch at will, and connections betweenthe clutch disengaging means and the spout for closing'the' valve of thespout with the disengagement of the clutch.

3; In a box endilabeling machine, a support for axrow of box ends, adriven rolledextending abovethe' support adjacent one end and arrangedtofrictionally engage the box ends. as the latter are fed. onto thesupport, means to feed the box-ends toward and under. the. roller. frombeyond said end of the support, anddriven means acting in conjunctionwiththe feeding means to positive ly'raise the roller clear of thebox-ends as rthe forward ends of the latter a "i t1 ll see Fig. 9) insuch a manner that w1th:the m1 n fed under the roller. n5

transversely from 'the stack simultaneously.

a horizontal conveyor disposed to the side of and over which they aredisposed by the feeding means; and means associatedwith and functioningsubsequent to the action of the feeding means'to. causethe. boards todrop .ont-othe conveyor in horizontally spaced relation to each otherwith their surfaced "faces uppermost.

5. In a box-end labeling machine, means to support a stack of box-endboards disposed on edge with their side edges horizontal, means to feeda pair of the boards from the stack simultaneously and in a transversehorizontal direction, a horizontal conveyor disposed to that side of thestack toward which the boards are fed and over which they are disposedby the feeding means, and means associated with but functioningsubsequent to the feeding means to cause the boards to drop flatly ontothe conveyor in horizontally spaced relation to each other.

6. In a box-end labeling machine, means to support a stack of box-endboards disposed on edge with their side edges horizontal, means to feeda pair of the boards from the stack simultaneously and in a transversehorizontal direction, a horizontal conveyor disposed to that side of thestack toward which the boards are fed and over which they are disposedby the feeding means, said conveyor extending lengthwise of the stack,means functioning in conjunction with but subsequent to the action ofthe feeding means to cause the fed boards to drop flatly onto theconveyor in horizontally spaced relation to each other, means fordriving the conveyor to cause the boards thereon to be carried away fromthe stack, a' support for the boards extending at right angles to theconveyor, adhesive applying means associated with said support, andmeans to successively feed the individual boards from the conveyor ontosaid support.

7. A structure as in claim 4, in Which said last named means includesside guides for the opposed outer faces of the pair of boards, springsmounted in connection with the guides to engage the upper edges of theboards, and means for moving the guides outwardly of the boards wherebyto cause the springs to tilt the boards outwardly so that they will thenfall flatly onto the conveyor of themselves.

8. In a box-end labeling machine, means to support a stack of box-endboards disposed on edge with their side edges horizontal, a horizontalconveyor extending lengthwise of and beyond the stack to one side of thesame, a rail overhanging the conveyor and extending laterally from oneend of the stack support on' a level therewith, means acting on thestack'to normally maintain the innermost pair of boards thereof inalineinent with said rail,means to simultaneously engage said pair ofboards and feed them from the stack onto the rail in overhangingrelation to the conveyor, and means associated with the rail and feedingmeans to tilt the boards away from each other when they are inoverhanging relation to the conwas s as be eause h ai t than ar fl tyand at th e es 'ntle he cel vi' ie" 41 1 a baand la lin 'inae iaa meansto s. spo t a st k been Lea-red Pag You ed e wit he r s e si e h met "air ze alcam ra? mending lengthwise of and beyond the stack tofo side ofthe same, arail overhanging the c veyor and egtending laterally from'one end a he aek s ppo on e the ew h, means acting on the s rel; to I Hi a tai the mmense? Pai of b ards th m lii i l w t 5'" ra ma in te" smue uslv enga e S d paiii i boards nd eed them from the stack onto therail iniove rihanging relation to the conveyonsaid in us normally iincluding a reciprocating carriage whose movement in one direction thusfeeds the boards, means mountedin connection with the rail to tilt thefed boards away from each other, and means functioning with theretractive movement of the carriage to actuate the board tilting means.

10. In a box-end labeling machine, means to support a stack of box-endboards disb posed on edge with their side edges horizontal, a horizontalconveyor extending lengthwise of and beyond the stack to one side of thesame, a rail overhanging the conveyor and extending laterally from oneend of the stack support on a level therewith, means acting on the stackto normally maintain the innermost pair of boards thereof in alinementwith said rail, means to simultaneously engage said pair of boards andfeed 7 them from the stackonto the rail in overhanging relation to theconveyor, said means including a reciprocating carriage whose movementin one direction thus feeds the boards, laterally separable guides forthe opposed outer faces of the boards on the rail mounted in connectionwith the rail, springs mounted in connection with the guides tofrictionally engage the upper edges of the boards, means for spreadingthe guides, and actuating means for said spreading means gps mounted inconnection therewith and with v a vertical arm pivoted at one end, andconnections between the arm and rod to move the latter in a linkspreading direction with a swinging movement of the arm in the samedirection as the retractive movement of the carriage; and the actuatingmeans comprises a notched catch member projecting from the arm in saiddirection, a tongue projecting from the carriage to engage the notch inthe catch member just as the carriage reaches the end of its stroke in abroad feeding direction whereby with the retractive movement of thecarriage the catch member will be drawn along and the parts connectedtherewith likewise moved, means acting to disengage the catch from thetongue after the catch has been moved a predetermined dis-'7 tance, andmeans acting to then return said catch and associated parts to theirnormal positions. x

12. A structure as in claim 1, said stacking means comprising verticalguides for the box-ends upstanding from the support at the delivery endof the same, a vertical recipro eating plunger under the guides toengage and lift the, box ends in succession in timed relation with theadvancing of the same, and catch means associated with the guides toengage the lowest box end and hold the stack against downward movement.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HAROLD J. HARDING.

